Advanced Search

Event Description:Buddhist Ethics: A Different Perspective on the Good Life" Mon., Nov. 5 - 5:30-6:30pm; East Tennessee Room, Culp Western moral philosophy falls generally into three genres: The Aretaic ethics of the Greeks, involving an account of human virtue, and the way that the cultivation of virtue leads to a happy life; the Deontolological ethics of Kant and the Christian tradition, involving an account of our duties, permissions and prohibitions, and a focus on the motivations of our actions; and the Consequentialist ethics of the Utilitarians, with its focus on assessing the outcomes of our actions or rules of conduct. To be sure there are a few exceptions and mixed cases, but these three schools of thought predominate. Buddhist ethics offers a radically different way of thinking about our moral life, focusing on moral phenomenology, or our experience of the ethical domain. We will talk about this approach and how it might enrich contemporary moral discussion and our attempts to cultivate ourselves as moral agents. Sponsored by the Philosophy Dept. of ETSU and SGA, ETDC, the Philosophy Club, and the Philosophy Dept. of ETSU Douglas S. Duckworth Department of Philosophy and Humanities East Tennessee State University Box 70656, Johnson City, TN 37614 (423) 439-5813 duckworth@etsu.edu